Honing attachment for bread slicing machine



March 5, 1963 R. N. wlNFREE ETAL 3,079,738

HONING ATTACHMENT FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1959 4Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS` March 5, 1963 R. N. WINFREE ETAL 390799738HONING ATTACHMENT FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1959 4Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS March 5, 1963 R. N. WINFREE ETAL, 3,079,738

HONING ATTACHMENT FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINE BY Ma@ Filed March 20, 1959March 5, 1963 R. N. WINFREE ETAL 3,079,738

HONTNG ATTACHMENT FOR BREAD sLTcTNG MAcHINE Filed March 20, 1959 4Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS ate This invention relates to a honing orsharpening-device 'for multiple slicing blades or knives as endlessbands for automatic bread-slicing machines.

It is an Vobject of the invention to provide a hone or abrasive rodextending7 along all of the blades of the slicing machine with one honefor sharpening one `side of the blade and a second hone or abrasive vrodfor 'sharpening vthe other side of the blade. Another object of theinvention resides in the honing device providing 'a drive wheelconnected by belts to each of the two hones to drive one hone in onedirection of rotation and thevother hone `in the opposite direction ofrotation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a'honin'g device as anattachment for a bread slicing machine which can be readily applied on'and in existing slicing machines.

A still further object of the invention resides in the mounting of thehoning device so that both grinding rods 'may be shifted as a unittogether with a friction drive wheel which latter may contact one of theband blade drums to thus drive both abrasive rods. Another object of theinvention resides in contacting the cutting bands Where the blade hastwisted approximately through a l2 degree angle. A further object of theinvention resides in the provision of drive belts 'from pulleys on thedrive wheel shaft to each of the grinding rods with one belt twisted butthe other belt untwisted to impart opposite directions of rotation tosuch grinding rods.

It is another object of the invention to provide a unit as an attachmentto be secured in a bread slicing machine to sharpen all the band bladeswhile the machine is running by contacting both sides of each bandeither singly or all at one time. By manual shifting of the hones incontact with the blades the entire unit is shifted to pre`- ventgrooving of the hohes.

Further objects will be apparent from the following description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a front plan view of the slicing machine,

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the machine of FIG. l,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic end view of the machine indicating the rotarymotions of the two hones', A

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of one of the rollers with a modified powertake ot for the grinding rods with part of the grinding wheels insection,

FIG. 5 is an end view of the upper part of the machine showing amodified structure, Y FIG. 6 is a plan view of a modied honing device asan attachment, K l

FIG. 7 is a side view of the modified device of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a cross section of the device taken on line S-S of FIG. 6,

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of one side of the device,

FIG. l0 is' a side elevation of a mounting bracket taken on line lil-1dof FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows, and

FIG. ll is a perspective View of the shifting means for the hones.

The honing device is illustrated as applied to a twentyone blade orcutting band bread slicing machine or machine for slicing othercommodities of the general type 2 'as 'for example shown in UQS. lPatent.-No. 2,768,486, dated October 30, 1956. The bread slicing machineincludes two rollers 3 and 4, FIG. l, one or both of which may bedriven, and which Yfrictionally` drive `Athe plurality of endless knifeband blades 2 which blades partially encircle the 'rollers fin atwis'eposition but are -forced by guide means, not shown, Vto edgewiserelationshipwhere th'e runs of the blades cross each other during 'theirpassage through the loaves of bread to be sliced. The band blades 2 arein the nature of knives which pass around the roilers 3 and 4 ywhile anynumber of band knives may -be provided, Fi'G. l shows a twenty-one blademachine with the driven roller or dr'u'r'n 3 mounted in a frame, notshown, by means of spindle 5. As shown in FIG. 3 each blade crosses atits approximate center point between the rollers 3 and 4 where aplatform is provided for supporting 'the loaves of bread to be slicedand as viewed in PIG. 3 the blades 'are 'at right angles at the platform6 relative to the travel around .the rollers 3 and 4. -FIG. 3 shows byarrows 7, the direction of rotation of the rollers 3 Yand `4 which is incounter directions as to the two rollers and such rotary motion is du'etothe crossed blad's.

It sohappens that it is desired to periodically or at Vodd times tosharpen the band knives 2 and for this purpose, according to theinvention, a honing device 3 is provided which comprises a pair of honesor abrasive elements'9 and 10, each honing element extending across allof the blades as shown in FIG. 1. Each hone is in the form of a roundbar and is rotatably mounted in end bearing brackets 11 by means ofspindle shafts 12 and such brackets are suitably secured in a frame. Arubber friction drive wheel 13 is mounted to rotate intermediate 4thehones 9 and 10 and this rubber wheel 13 has a drive pulley 14 securedthereto which drives the hones 9 and 1? by means of belts or drivingcords 15 and 16.' The driving belt 15 is not crossed but the belt 16 iscrossed and this is for the purpose of imparting diierent directions ofrotation to the hones 9 and 10. The directions of rotation of the pulley14 and the bones are indicated by the arrows as shown in FG. 3 whichalso shows the' directions of travel of the runs of the knife bands 2';f

The honing stones or rods` 9 and 16 may be lmade of any suitableabrasive material and as an example Carborundum may be mentioned andeachstone may be at least two inches in diameter and two inches long.

Referring again to the bearing brackets 11, each of the hones 9 and 10is rotatably mounted on its spindle shaft 12 and. these elementstogether with the drive' wheel 13, the pulley 14, and :the belts v15 andv16 are mounted as a movable unit supported on pivots 17 `suspended bylever arms 18 having an outwardly projecting extension arm 19 yprovidedwith a handle 20. FIG.v 2 shows in solid lines, the hones 9 and 10 outvof contact with the bands 2 and in dotted lines the unit 8 adjusted tothe left so that the Wheel 13 is in contact with the roller 3 and thehohes 9 and 10 are incontact with the side edge of each band 2. As shownin FIG. 3 with the hones in contact to grind the blade, the hone 9 issharpening on one side of the blade 2 while the hone 10 is sharpeningthe other side of the blade, resulting in the sharpening of both sidesof the 4blade to thus restore a sharp edge to each cutting band. Thestones 9 and 10 are located far enough down from the roller 3 and alongthe twisting blade 2 in order to have a sharpening angle ofapproximately 12 degrees from the vertical. The hones are locatedapproximately 6 inches down from the roller measured at the point wherethe band 2 begins to contact the roller at 21, FIG. 3, and -at 22 whereit leaves the roller 3 and measured to the rotating axes of the hones.

The device, according to FIGS. l to 3, operates as follows:

In the normal slicing operation of the machine the hones 9 and 10 aremaintained out of contact with the knife bands 2 as shown by lsolidlines in FIG. 2. If it is now observed that the bread slices show tearsand mutilation, the slicing is stopped and with the machine continuingto run, the handle 2i? is pulled and moved to the left or upwardly, FIG.2 to adjust the hones 9 and 16 to the left to contact the blades 2. Atabout the time the hone-s contact the blades, the wheel 13 contacts thedrum 3 and this sets the hones in rotation counter to each other in thedirections of the Iarrows in FIG. 3. Both sides of the rblades aresharpened at the same time and after a short time when it is consideredthat the blades each again have a sharp edge,'the handle 26 is releasedso that a tension spring 23 secured at one end t-o the arm 18 at 24 willcause the unit 8 to be forced back to the righ-t to strike a stop orabutment 25.

FIG. 4 shows a modified power take off for the grinding rods and asshown the roller or drum 3 is provided with the spindle 5. The drivingshaft 26 is mounted in end bearings 27 which are secured to mountingplates 29 suitably mounted but preferably pivoted on the spindle 5. Theshaft 26 has two end rubber wheels 3i) adapted to contact the roller 3by frictional contact. A pair of pulleys 31 are secured on one end ofthe shaft 26 to rotate therewith. These pulleys 31 are provided torotate the pair of grinding rods only one of which is shown in FG. 4 butboth are shown in FiG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 4 the hones or grinding rod shown is made with aplurality of grinding hones 31 cach in the form of a cylindrical sectionwhich may be glued or cemented to each other and on hubs 32 mounted onthe shaft 26 to be driven thereby.

FIG. shows the drum 3 with a modified structure with an end view of theslicing blades or bands 2. The drum 3 is mounted on the spindle 5mounted in va frame of the machine, not shown. A plate 33 is alsomounted on the frame and this plate supports a bearing 34 for a secondplate 35. This plate 35 has two supporting arms 36 and 37 securedthereon by rivets 38 or any other suitable means such `as by welding.Each pair of arms 36 and 37 supports a rod-shaped grinding or honing rod38 and 39. Also mounted on the plate 35, there is a further arm 40 orpair thereof adjustably mounted on the plate 35 by means of a pivotrivet 41 and a further rivet pin 42 cooperates in a slot 43 in the arm40. A pair of pulleys 44 are mounted on the shafts 45 and such pulleysare mounted to rotate with the rubber friction drive wheels 46. Thehoning rod 38 is provided with a pulley 47 and the honing rod 39 isprovided with a pulley 48. A crossed belt 49 is connected to one of thepulleys 44 and the pulley 47 and a non-crossed belt 50 is connected tothe other pulley 48 and one of the pulleys 44. An operating lhandle 51is secured to the plate 35 land an adjustable stop screw or bolt 52 isthreaded in a member or block 53 which by means of a lock nut 54 willpermit the setting and adjustment of the unit comprising the plates 35and the honing rods and operating pulleys as well as the friction drivewheels.

' As shown in FIG. 5, the honing rods are in contact with both sides ofthe edge part of each blade 2 so that both sides of the band 2 aresharpened. The hand of the operator holds the handle 51 in the positionof the honing unit as shown in solid lines in FIG. 5 but when released atension spring 55 secured at one end 56 to the frame and the other endat 57 to the plate 35, will pull the grinding device to the left aroundthe spindle 5 as a pivot to thus move the grind rods out of contact withthe cutting bands. i

FIGS. 6 to ll show a form of invention in which the frame which movesthe hones back and forth across the blades is controlled by a lever.When the lever is pulled down, the hone on top of the blades after theycome over the drum and the hone just above the blade as they go underthe drum and the rubber wheels for driving the hones all make theircontacts simultaneously. At this point, the frame containing the honeand roller move in a horizontal position from the left to the right handside of the machine approximately one and one-half inches. When thelever is released the spring below the lever pulls the frame back to theleft hand side of the machine. During this horizontal movement the honeshave contact with the blades and the rubber driving wheel has contactwith the drum. Y

The mechanism as a unit is mounted in the frame 58 of a bread slicingmachine just under one of the rolls or drums around which the cuttingbands pass and as shown in FIG. 6 the side plates 59 are interconnectedby a tie rod 66. A pair of opposite bearing members 61 are secured oneto each plate 59, FIG. 6, and each bearing 61 cooperates with and slideson a spindle or stub axle shaft 62 secured on a frame bracket 63. Theframe brackets 63 are secured in the frame 58 of the machine and FIG l0shows in detail the bracket 63 secured by bolts 64 to frame 58, FIG. 10.The shaft 62 is secured on the bracket 63 by welding and is shown inFIG. l0. The attachment may shift to right and left during the operationof the grinding mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 6 a pair of grinding rods or cylinders 65 arepreferably composed of small sections of one to two inches in width andcemented together to be rotated by its shaft 66 and 67. The shaft 66ismounted in side bearing brackets 68 secured by bolts to its plate 59and one end of the shaft 66 has a pulley wheel 69 mounted thereon. Theother shaft 67 also has a pulley 70 mounted thereon at one end thereof.The shaft 71 has two or more friction wheels 72 secured thereon whichlatter are adapted to contact the roller drum 3 and this shaft 71 has apulley 73 and 74 at each end thereof. 'Ihe pulleys 74 and 70 areconnected by a belt 75 and the pulleys 73 and 69 are connected by acrossed belt 76. Thus when the wheels 72 and shaft 71 are driven, thehone 65 will rotate in one direction by means of pulley 74, belt 75 andpulley 70 whereas hone 65 will be driven in the opposite direction dueto the crossed belt 76 cooperating with the pulleys 69 and 73.

A bracket arm 77 is secured by bolts 78, FIG.Y 7, to one of the plates59 and this arm has a bent extension 79 on which a pivotally mounted arm80 is secured. This arm 80 is pivoted at 81 and is provided with aspring 82 secured on a short arm 83. This spring 82 is also secured to alug 84 of the control handle 85 pivotally mounted at 86 on a fixed part87 of the frame. A connecting link 88 has a slot 89 therein throughwhich the pivot bolt 81 passes and this link 88 is also pivotallyconnected at 89 to the xed part 87. A second spring V90 is secured tothe handle lever at 91 with the other end connected to the frame andthis spring 90 has one half the strength of the spring 82 so that thehones 65 will have a one and a half inch movement horizontally when incontact with `the blades to thus prevent a grooving of the bones.

The attachment of FIGS. 6 to 11 is easily installed in existing breadslicing machines or it may be readily built into new machines. Thebracket members 63 are suitably bolted to the frame 58 of the slicingmachine and the fixed part 87 is suitably secured on a cross rod 92which latter is secured in the machine frame 58. During the sharpeningoperation of the attachment, the hones 65 contact all the blades 2simultaneously on both side edges and this sharpening takes place whilethe operating wheels 72 are in contact with the roller 3. During thenormal operation of the slicing machine the hones are out of contactwith the blades held by spring 82, that is no sharpening ytakes place.It is however obvious that at times the blades 2 must be sharpenedwhereby the operator pushes down on the handle 85, FIG. 7, which. forcesthe sharpening device to pivot on its bearing pins vusingthe fixed part87 as an abutment the arm 80 forces theframe and hones laterally on thebearing pins 62 to zlimit the slot in the link 88. This latter willcause the unit to shift axially relative to the bearing pins against theaction or force of 'the spring 82 and when the hones have been shiftedthe wheels 72 will contact the roller 3 and the hones 65 will sharpenboth sides of the blades while the spring 90 slowly forces the honingdevice to move axially on the pins 62 to thus prevent groovng of thehones during grinding. When the end position is reached the unit will beautomatically disconnected and the sharpening of the blades is completedwith the hones out of contact with the blades. The spring 82 beingstronger than the spring 90, the slow return of the hones is assured.Normally the honing device is maintained in such a way with the honesout of contact with the blades, by means of a stop member 93 on an arm94, FIG. 7, which member 93 abuts against a iixed part of the machine.

When the lever 85 is forced downwardly or to the right, FIG. 6, the arm80 will force the honing device laterally at the same time that thewheels '72 make contact with the roller 3 and the hones will contact theblades. The honing cylinders could be held from lateral shifting butthat may cause groovng by the blades so that the slow return of thehones laterally during grinding will will ensure the true maintenance ofthe hones.

We claim as our invention:

l. A sharpening device for bread slicing m-achines of the type having aplurality of crossed slicing bands running between and over a pair ofspaced drum rollers, cornprising a pair of spaced plates pivotallymounted on a spindle of one of the drum rollers, two pairs of armssecured to the plates, a grinding rod rotatably mounted in each pair ofarms and each rod having a pulley secured thereto, a friction wheelrotatably mounted in the plates and having a pair of pulleys rotatingtherewith, and a belt connected to each of the pulleys of the frictionwheel and to each pulley of the grinding rods, said rods when adjustedin contact with the slicing bands acting to hone all of the bandssimultaneously.

2. A sharpening device for bread slicing machines of the type having aplurality of crossed slicing bands running between and over a pair ofspaced drum rollers, comprising a pair of spaced plates pivotallymounted on a spindle of one of the drum rollers, two pairs of armssecured to the plates, a grinding rod rotatably mounted in each pair ofarms and each rod having a pulley secured thereto, a friction wheelrotatably mounted in the plates and having la -pair of pulleys rotatingtherewith, a belt connected -to each of the pulleys of the frictionwheel and to each pulley of the grinding rods, and means to move thegrinding rods and friction wheel as a unit so that the friction wheel isin contact with the drum roller and the grinding rods are in contactwith the slicing bands,

3. A sharpening device for bread slicing machines of the type having -aplunality of crossed slicing bands running between and over a pair ofspaced drum rollers, comprising a pair of spaced plates pivotallymounted on a spindle of one of the drum rollers, two pairs of armssecured to the plates, a grinding rod rotatably mounted in each pair ofarms and each rod having a pulley secured thereto, a friction wheelrotatably mounted in the plates and having a pair of pulleys rotatingtherewith, a belt connected .to each of the pulleys of the frictionwheel and to each pulley of the grinding rods, and means to move thegrinding rods and friction wheel as a unit so that the friction wheel isin contact with the drum roller and the grinding rods are in contactwith the slicing bands, the belt of one grinding rod being crossed andthe belt of the other grinding rod being uncrossed so that .the grindingrods will rotate in dilerent directions of rotation.

4. A sharpening device for'bread slicing machines of the type having aplurality of crossed `slicin-g bands running between Vand over a pair of-spaced drum rollers, comprising a pair of spaced plates vpivotallymountedfon a spindle of vone of the drum rollers, two pairs of are-mssecured to .the pla-tes, -a grinding rod rotatably mounted in each pairof arms and each rod having a pulley secured thereto, a friction wheelrotatably mounted in the plates and having a pair of pulleys rotatingtherewith, a belt connected to each of the pulleys of the friction wheeland to each pulley of the grinding rods, and means to move the grindingrods and friction wheels as a uni-t so that the friction wheels are incontact with the drum roller and the grinding rods are in contact withthe slicing bands together with means to permit the grinding rods toslide axially while the grinding operation proceeds to prevent lgroovngof the grinding rods.

5. A sharpening device for bread slicing machines of the type having aplurality of crossed slicing bands run ning between and over a pair ofspaced drum rollers, comprising a pair of spaced plates pivotallymounted on .a spindle of one of the drum rollers, two pairs of armssecured to the plates, a -grinding rod rotatably mounted in each pair ofarms and each rod having a pulley secured thereto, a friction wheelrotatably mounted in the plates and having a pair of pulleys rotatingtherewith, a belt connected to each of the pulleys of the friction wheeland to each pulley of the grinding rods, and means to move the grindingrods Vand friction wheels as a unit so that the friction wheels are incontact with the drum roller` and the grinding rods are in contact withthe slicing bands together with means to permit the grinding rods ytoslide axially while the grinding operation proceeds to prevent groovngof the grinding rods, said last mentioned means including a manuallyoperated lever connected to operate the grinding rods.

6. A sharpening device for bread slicing machines of the type having aplurality of `crossed slicing bands running over a pair of spaced drumrollers, comprising a frame mounted in the machine by laterally-slidingbear. ings, a pair of honing rolls rotatably mounted in the frame, meansin the frame for receiving motion from one of the drum rollers and torotate the honing rolls, means for mounting the frame for lateraladjustment parallel to the axes of the honing rolls, and means connectedto the frame and operable by a hand lever to shift the frame and honingrolls laterally whereby during the grinding of the bands the hones andframe will slowly shift to its initial position to thereby preventgroovng of the honing rolls.

7. A sharpening device according to claim 6, in which a spring isprovided to slowly force the frame back to its initial position duringthe grinding operation.

8. A sharpening device according to claim 6, in which a pair of springsare provided of which both are connected to the hand lever so that onespring will tend to slow the other to permit a suificient grindingperiod for the hones.

9. A sharpening device according to claim 6, in which a pair of springsare provided of which both are connected to the hand lever so that onespring will tend to slow the other to permit a sufficient grindingperiod for the hones, one spring being stronger than the other.

l0. A sharpening device for bread slicing machines of the type having aplurality of crossed slicing bands running between and over a pair ofspaced drum rollers, comprising a pair of spaced plates pivotallymounted on bearing pins to permit lateral sliding of the plates, twopairs of arms secured to the plates, a grinding rod rotatably mounted ineach pair of arms and each rod having a pulley secured thereto, afriction wheel rotatably mounted in the plates and having a pair ofpulleys rotating therewith, a belt connected to each of the pulleys ofthe friction wheel and to each pulley of the grinding rods, and means tomove the grinding rods and friction wheels as a unit so that thefriction wheels are in contact with 7 S the drum roller and the grindingrods are in Contact with v 'References Cited in the ile of this patentthe slicing bands together with means to permit the grind- UNITED STATESPATENTS ing rods to slide axially while the grinding operation proceedsto prevent grooving of the grinding rods, said last Irsgton g mentionedmeans including a manually operated lever l5 2580778 Hemel? "f "f" Jn' 11952 .Connected t0 Operate the grinding rods- 2753936 Macchesney July10, 1956

1. A SHARPENING DEVICE FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES OF THE TYPE HAVING APLURALITY OF CROSSED SLICING BANDS RUNNING BETWEEN AND OVER A PAIR OFSPACED DRUM ROLLERS, COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED PLATES PIVOTALLYMOUNTED ON A SPINDLE OF ONE OF THE DRUM ROLLERS, TWO PAIRS OF ARMSSECURED TO THE PLATES, A GRINDING ROD ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN EACH PAIR OFARMS AND EACH ROD HAVING A PULLEY SECURED THERETO, A FRICTION WHEELROTATABLY MOUNTED IN THE PLATES